Home Improvement

Tacoma, Wash.-based Tacoma Screw Products is turning to e-commerce to reach more customers with the launch of a new Web store.

TacomaScrew.com offers access to all of the company’s inventory, as well as free shipping and next-door delivery (in most cases) to any of the 16 branch store locations. The company says the site also offers the ability to see real-time inventory at all branch stores.

Orders are shipped on the same day, if the order is received by 4 p.m. PST.

Phoenix -- Leslie’s Poolmart said Monday it will grand-open eight Leslie’s Swimming Pool stores on April 26-28, part of the company’s pre-stated goal to open 48 new stores in spring 2013.

New stores will open in Bristol, Conn.; South Elgin, Ill.; Kansas City, Mo.; Medford, N.J.; Depew, N.Y.; Huber Heights and Canton, Ohio; and Doylestown, Pa.

With the 48 new stores and its recent acquisition of 24 Warehouse Pool Supply stores in the Houston area, Leslie's will bring its total store count to more than 800 stores nationwide.

CORTE MADERA, Calif. — Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc. reported Friday a loss of $28.4 million for the quarter ended Feb. 2, compared with a profit of $24 million in the year-ago period. Results, impacted by costs associated with the company’s November 2012 IPO, edged analysts’ expectations.

Revenue surged 30% to $398.1 million from $305.2 million last year, beating Wall Street’s forecast of $390.5 million. Same-store sales advanced a hefty 26%.

Walmart has rolled out a new line of Disney paints and specialty finishes available exclusively at select Walmart stores.

The Disney Paint line consists of “112 exclusive colors grouped into three palettes, with imaginative Disney-themed names, designed to give parents and children options at every stage, from infant to tween,” said Jason Stewart, director of softlines product development for Disney Consumer Products. 

London -- A Thursday report by Bloomberg said that retail sales in the U.K. fell a more-than-expected 0.8% (excluding fuel) in March compared to February, impacted by unseasonably cold weather and a still-sluggish economy.

President of Ikea USA Mike Ward is scheduled to keynote this year’s Retail Sustainability Conference, which will run from Monday, Sept. 30 to Thursday, Oct. 3 in Orlando, Fla. 

PERRYVILLE, Md. — Ikea has plugged-in the solar energy system installed at its distribution center in Perryville, Md. 

Perryville, Md. -- Ikea said Tuesday it has plugged-in the solar energy system installed at its distribution center in Perryville, Md.
 
The 768,972-sq.-ft. PV array consists of a 2,674.9-kW system, built with 18,576 panels, and is the state’s largest rooftop array.

The Ikea distribution center will produce approximately 3,397,178 kWh of clean electricity annually, the equivalent of reducing 2,397 tons of carbon dioxide, eliminating the emissions of 499 cars or powering 359 homes yearly.